


Psychopomp

by priama



Category: Chrono Trigger
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mild Gore, crossing to the afterlife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/priama/pseuds/priama
Summary: Is he to be a wandering wraith forever, floating in a mirror void until the end of time?But he is not alone.
Relationships: Cyrus/Sara | Schala





	Psychopomp

**Author's Note:**

> Rarepair hours.

The flames lick up his skin and agony forces him to fade away into tumultuous sleep.  
  
 _Take care of Leene_ is his dying thought, as the smell of charred skin overtakes him.  
  
And then the pain is gone.  
  
He opens his eyes and doesn't know where he is. The lush forests of Denadoro Mountains are gone, in their stead a swirling, silver void surrounds him; ripples go on forever and he thinks he'll fall in if not for the strangely solid ground beneath him.  
  
He catches his reflection in the rippling mirror ground. Despite the burnt and mangled skin beneath the helmet and the glowing embers he has for eyes, Cyrus knows his face. Did he survive somehow?  
  
...No. He is dead. He tries to remove his helmet and armor plates but they're fused to his flesh. If he were alive, there would be pain. But he feels and senses nothing, save for the smell of smoke emanating from his bones.  
  
So what is this place?  
  
It's too vacuous to be heaven and to quiet to be hell. He stands up and walks to what he thinks it's forward, trying to find... something. Anything. He walks and walks for what feels like hours and days but the scenery remains unchanged. He huffs, a gutural sound from his scorched throat. Is he to be a wandering wraith forever, floating in a mirror void until the end of time?  
  
But he is not alone.

Cyrus stops in his tracks when just a few meters from where he stands a kneeling figure fades into existence.  
  
 _Leene!_ His vagrant mind screams. But it is not his queen. It's a girl he's never seen before.  
  
She is beautiful to the point of being ethereal, her blue hair cascades past her back, tips touching the ground. She is robed in lilac velvet and he would think her an angel if not for the strain in her expression.  
  
Her eyes are tightly shut and her thin hands cover her ears. Shadows of grief and agony dance in her face and she shivers. There is something wrong with her. Cyrus wants to call out to her but his tongue has melted.  
  
He closes the distance between them and dread washes him anew when he notices the girl sinking into the crystalline ripples. Strange, fleshy tendrils cling to her body, pulling her down, and the lower she goes, the worse she tenses and whimpers.  
  
She is being devoured.  
  
Cyrus wastes no time and throws himself at her, gauntlet clad hands grab her shoulders and pulls at her, but whatever is eating her away is stronger than he is, for she slips past his grip.  
  
 _Please... I never wanted_... A shattered voice that's not his own sobs in his mind.  
  
He grunts and tries to pull her to him again but every time she slips away like water between his fingers. She's waist deep into the ripples and he doesn't want to know what awaits her underneath. He won't wait to find out.  
  
 _I will help you. Just hold on._  
  
Adrenaline rushes through burnt veins and he pulls his sword, blade singing. It is not the holy Masamune, but the blade in his hand is black as his armor, scalding to the touch and sharp as steel. Determination has him swing the blade down.  
  
The tendrils come undone with a reverberating snap as he cuts them off, one by one. A shrill scream is heard from underneath as he slices them, and when they threaten to fuse back with the girl, he hacks them apart before they can writhe again.  
  
Cyrus wraps one arm round her waist and pulls her out of the ripples. The creature dragging her down has also taken her by the legs, so he props her on his shoulder and cuts away the vile tissue until she is free.  
  
The terrible cry from below makes the foundations of reality tremble so violently that the rippling ground starts to sink in. Whatever demon tried to swallow her was now furiously demanding her back. He has to leave.  
  
Cyrus lifts his sword in the air and stabs at the center of the sinking ground to win him some time. With one hand under her knees and the other one supporting her shoulders, he turns on his heels and carries the feather-light girl away.  
  
The swirling void begins to fade into red, and at his back he hears a terrible howl, try to drag him back into the vacuum. The air grows heavy and cold, darkness closes in but he never stops running. He failed to guard the queen back home. He will not fail the girl in his arms.  
  
A pale glow becomes visible far up ahead. He can feel a welcoming warmth from the other side.  
  
 _Almost there._  
  
Despite the terrible yawning at his back he manages to keep up pace. Shadows slither, coming close to his boots and cape but he refuses to be touched. Heaven's gate is just beyond. He will not be deterred.  
  
 _Now!_  
  
He jumps through. A final, horrible, ear splitting cry echoes at his back, but white light engulfs him and the girl in his arms before closing behind them. Whatever demon tried to devour them can never touch them again. Cyrus kisses the top of the girl's head as warmth and calm embraces them both.  
  
All ends well.

**Author's Note:**

> years and years ago, back in the deviantart days, i got into an art trade with another user whose handle name i forget but anyways i drew his OC and in return he drew me my CT crackpair. thing is he drew cyrus as a ghost/undead knight rescuing schala who was half fused to lavos and that image always stayed with me even after all these years and after i left dA. i still have it saved too it's one of my dearest art possessions. i recently remembered and was itching to write something like that.


End file.
